Scroll through rapper 50 Cent’s Instagram feed and you’ll find a preponderance of photos where he basks in unimaginable riches.

浏览饶舌歌手“50美分”(50 Cent)的Instagram页面，你会发现很多炫富的照片。

There’s the shot where the rapper, real name Curtis James Jackson III, can’t seem to find his legs because they’re buried under $100 bills. There’s another where he’s stocked his refrigerator with bundles of greenbacks. More confusing still is a snap where the rapper arranges his “lunch money” ($100 bills) to spell out the word “broke”.

在其中一张照片里，这位真名柯蒂斯•詹姆斯•杰克逊三世(Curtis James Jackson III)的饶舌歌手的腿似乎不见了，因为他用100美元的纸币把它们埋了起来。在另一张照片里，他在自己的冰箱里装满了一捆捆的美元纸币。还有一张更令人困惑的照片，他用自己的“午餐钱”(一堆100美元纸币)拼出了“broke”(破产)这个词。

That last image is the most telling. Jackson filed for bankruptcy in July last year, claiming debts of between $10m and $50m, according to court documents. But when the 40-year-old was summoned to a Connecticut court in the US this February, the judge explained that she was having trouble reconciling the man in front of her with the man in those Instagram photos.

最后一张照片最为吐露真情。法院文件显示，杰克逊去年7月申请破产，他的负债高达1000万至5000万美元。但当美国康涅狄格州的一家法院今年2月传唤这位40岁的饶舌歌手时，法官表示他完全无法想象面前的那个人就是Instagram照片中的“50美分”。

The rapper’s creditors had tipped her off to the Instagram account, according to the New York Times. Jackson’s response was as simple as it was unexpected.

据《纽约时报》报道，这位饶舌歌手的债主给法官展示了他的Instagram帐号。杰克逊的回答简单得令人意外。

The piles of notes were “prop money”, he wrote in documents filed to the court. “Just because I am photographed in or next to a certain vehicle, wearing an article of clothing, holding a product, sitting next to what appears to be large sums of money or modelling expensive pieces of jewellery does not meant that I own everything in those photos.”

成堆成捆的钱都是“道具纸币”，他在提交给法院的文件中写道，“我在照片中坐进或靠近某辆汽车、穿着某件衣服、拿着某个东西、坐在一大堆钱的旁边或者带着昂贵的首饰，并不意味着我拥有这一切。”

Everyday people are leasing a lifestyle beyond their reach in order to project an image of power.

普通人也通过借来的东西享受超出自身能力范围的生活，希望以此给人留下有权有势的印象。

The rapper is hardly the first person to prop up his public image with borrowed finery. It’s an open secret in Hollywood that much of the clothing and jewellery worn by celebrities has been “seeded”, or loaned, to them by fashion brands. And those lavish cars? They’re often leased (or even rented) from high-end dealers who specialise in working with athletes and stars.

“50美分”并不是第一个通过借来的东西提升自己公共形象的人。明星的很多服装和珠宝其实都是“播种的”(seeded)，也就是说，这都是从时尚品牌那里借来的。这在好莱坞早已是公开的秘密。豪车呢？通常都是从专门跟文体明星打交道的高端经销商那里租来的。

And it’s not just celebrities; an increasing number of everyday people are leasing a lifestyle beyond their reach in order to project an image of power and authority they hope will give them an edge.

其实不只是明星，越来越多的普通人也在通过借来的东西享受超出自身能力范围的生活，希望以此给人留下有权有势的印象，以便为自己赋予优势。

Worth the investment?

这笔投资值得吗？

Image consultant Marian Rothschild, author of the book Look Good Now And Always, said making small lifestyle changes to give the appearance of wealth or power can often prove to be a good long-term investment for professionals. Consider it investing in your personal brand.

《总是看起来很好》(Look Good Now And Always)一书的作者、形象顾问玛丽安•罗斯柴尔德(Marian Rothschild)表示，对于专业人士而言，通过对生活方式的轻微调整来营造有钱有势的形象，通常都是一项不错的长期投资。可以把它视作是对个人品牌的投资。

“People these days are realising, ‘I need to up my game for what I believe my potential is, where I want to go, and how I want my life to be. So I’m going to make this investment by buying this Rolex watch, or leasing this gorgeous car, or overextending myself on my wardrobe for this season’,” she explained. “It’s kind of like a peacock extending its feathers and saying, ‘look at me’.”

“如今的人们渐渐明白一个道理，‘我需要通过展示我的潜力、我想去的地方和我渴望的生活方式，让自己上一个台阶。所以我要进行一些投资，购买这块劳力士手表，或者租下这辆豪车，或者在这场活动中穿着不属于自己的衣服。’”她解释道，“这有点像孔雀开屏，为的就是让人们都来看我。”

A recent survey from global staffing service OfficeTeam found that 80% of executives take clothing choices into account when considering an employee for a promotion, while a similar study at Korea’s Yonsei University found that interviewees with clearly branded luxury clothing were more likely than their competitors in cheaper clothing to not only win the job, but also receive a higher salary.

全球派遣服务提供商OfficeTeam最近进行的调查发现，有80%的高管在提拔员工时，会考虑他们的穿着。韩国延世大学的一项类似研究也发现，如果穿着鲜艳的豪华品牌服装前来面试，不仅比穿着廉价服装的竞争对手更有可能应聘成功，还有可能获得更高的薪水。

It’s kind of like a peacock extending its feathers and saying, ‘look at me’.

这有点像孔雀开屏，为的就是让人们都来看我。

The study concluded that the job candidates instantly increased their status in the eyes of others by actively signalling that they could afford the luxury brands and were, thus, seen as higher up in the hierarchy of capitalism.

该研究认为，只要主动让对方知道自己买得起奢侈品牌，并因此被视作身处较高的资本主义阶层，那么求职者在他人眼中的地位就会瞬间得到提升。

Carol Megehee, a co-author on the study and professor of marketing at Coastal Carolina University in the US, said that how and when you wear a prominent brand can have a big impact on your target audience’s unconscious bias. But it might not always be positive.

该报告的联合作者、美国卡罗来纳海岸大学市场营销教授卡罗尔•梅格希(Carol Megehee)表示，穿着名牌服装的方式和时机可能对你的目标受众产生很大影响，使之形成无意识的偏见。但这种影响未必总是积极的。

“If you’re a woman who is going in to interview with another woman you may not want to over flash with luxury brands because it might actually work against you,” she explained. Megehee noted in her study that brand logos had considerable benefits in most interactions, but there was a clear gender bias between women where, at least anecdotally, she believes jealousy may be at play.

“如果你是一位正要去面试的女性，而你的面试官恰好也是女性，那或许就不应该过度炫耀自己的奢侈品，因为这有可能对你不利。”她解释道。梅格希指出，她的研究显示，品牌标志在多数情况下都会带来明显的好处，但女人之间却会存在明显的性别歧视，至少，嫉妒心可能会起到一定的作用。